Maureen Breeze

Last month I facilitated a team offsite for global leaders. Employee engagement on the team had plummeted. The chief complaint was the leadership’s listening. Team members insisted that leadership wasn’t hearing them, while the leaders felt they’d made significant efforts to listen by collecting feedback in meetings, on calls, and through surveys.

There was a significant disconnect.

These highly successful global leaders have impressive records for turning business units around and achieving challenging KPIs. At the time of our meeting, they were outperforming all expectations for a large-scale global transformation. However, they were struggling to bring the team along in the process.

They are not alone. This is a situation I witness regularly in leadership development.

High performing leaders are often known for their vision and problem-solving abilities. To support these abilities, they usually listen with the intent to gather information and make tough decisions. Yet they often miss opportunities that come from listening with the intent to build rapport. As a result, team members may be listened to but not understood.

For leaders who thrive and succeed by moving fast, slowing down to build connection feels inefficient. And leaning into empathy feels soft. Yet embracing the value of strategic empathy can help leaders listen openly and find common ground, which accelerates growth and transformation. It requires listening for fact and details, as well as for impact.

If you receive feedback that your listening needs improving, I suggest the following:

Before Conversations         

Take time to consider where people are coming from and the conditions that may inform their points of view:

• What might they be thinking?
• What might they know or not know?
• What might they believe?
• How might they feel?

During Conversations

Commit to curiosity. Resist the instinct to offer a quick solution. Instead, try the following:

• Ask for more information. When people talk, remain open. Invite them to tell you more. Adopt a ‘perspective getting’ approach to better understand concerns and circumstances that contribute to their points of view.
• Share what you heard. Check your understanding. Ensure you are truly hearing what they are saying and check this information against assumptions about what you believed they thought, understood, believed, and felt.
• Acknowledge their experience. Acknowledgements show that you see someone’s experience. Comments such as “It sounds like this is frustrating,” or “I’m seeing how this can feel confusing,” help people to feel seen. An acknowledgement doesn’t necessarily mean that you agree with their point of view, but that you see the impact the situation is having on them.
• Thank them for offering their thoughts. While you may not agree with everything that is said, an authentic ‘thank you’ demonstrates your ability to offer dignity in a potentially difficult situation.

After Conversations

• Work from common ground. By following these steps, you may discover common ground and identify creative ways to address some of the concerns expressed. You can then act on these items and build trust by following through on your commitments as a leader.
• Share your reasoning. When you must take a hard line and make an unpopular decision, you’ll be better positioned to share your reasoning in ways that team members understand and accept, because they’ve been actively listened to along the way.

The global leaders I mentioned earlier took a courageous step to address their employees’ discontent by participating in a two-day listening tour with their team. During this exercise, they paused to listen deeply with the intent to understand, they resisted being defensive and instead remained curious and asked questions. They also built rapport by acknowledging their direct reports’ experience.

Much work remains to be done by these leaders. Guiding a team through difficult transformation is a long game. However, the time they invested in listening built the requisite connection to move forward as an organization.

Clients often tell me that they want to be more strategic with their communication. They share that they find themselves saying more than they’d like and taking too long to get to their point.

It is common to think out loud and share our thoughts as we work our way to meaning. Doing so can help us develop our point of view. But when the stakes are high and a concise and clear message is needed, meandering costs us.

When coaching a client on this skill, I share the IPD framework – Intent, Punchline, & Details.

To apply IPD to your situation, begin by asking “What do I want my audience to know and be able to do?” Keep it simple. Do you want them to understand the context surrounding a problem or make a decision based on key data?  Perhaps you want them to pause and reflect on contrarian points of view. Knowing your overarching intent helps you shape your punchline.

The next step is to distill your thoughts into a one sentence punchline. How much more powerful is “It’s in the company’s best interest to explore alternatives for this contract,” than “I’m feeling a little uncomfortable with the quotes we’re received and worry that the vendor doesn’t really understand our objectives. And, I mean, if we have more options

to choose from, you never know, we might be surprised. Last year, it felt like we might have moved too fast. And there might be other options that we haven’t considered that could be beneficial…”?

It’s critical to find your punchline and land it.

Next, decide how much supporting detail to include. You want to make your case, but you don’t want to lose focus. Typically, one or two data points or details will successfully frame your point of view and launch a conversation without losing your audience.

This process sounds like a lot to implement in the moment. However, it gets easier the more you practice.

I recommend thinking ahead about situations where you’ll need to offer your perspective. Write out your responses to the following:

• What does my audience need to know or be able to do?
• What is my punchline?
• What are the critical details to share up front?

Then rehearse your response several times. I encourage you to experiment with this process before 1:1s, interviews, client meetings, and board sessions – wherever you need to be strategic and to the point.

As you think about your communication in this way & practice creating powerful punchlines, you will find that it not only becomes easier to avoid speaking in circles, but it frees up your energy so that you can deliver your message with greater conviction.

It can be difficult to receive feedback that challenges our identity.

Early in my career, I lived in New York City and was told to lower my ‘warmth’ dial to be taken more seriously. The feedback went against my self-view. The thought of monitoring my smile and enthusiasm felt counter to who I was.

On the flip side, I have clients who have received feedback that they are too direct and could benefit by softening their approach. They often share that this different approach feels phony.

Other clients have been told to share their successes more readily and shine a spotlight on their achievements. They often recoil at the idea of self-promotion and believe that their good work deserves to be noticed without any assertation on their part.

And then there are those who are told they are ‘too much’ – too loud, too opiniated, too overbearing. A suggestion to turn down the dial can feel like a personal assault.

I commonly hear, “Why should I change the way I show up? Isn’t it more important that I am authentic?” In these moments, it’s easy to cling to our behaviors and claim authenticity.

Today, authenticity reigns king. Research indicates that it rose to one of the top ten trait desirable leadership attributes in 2022.

However, too often in the name of authenticity, we surrender to a limited vision of ourselves. We may be naturally shy and identify this trait as our authentic selves. However, if we don’t challenge our behaviors, we can be socially risk-adverse in ways that limit our potential. We may be very direct and quick to share all that’s on our minds. And while this may feel authentic, it may interfere with developing critical social nuances.  Pushing ourselves to grow and develop often requires that we adopt new behaviors that feel out of character.

Authenticity and evolving identities seem to be at odds.

However, I argue that authenticity is not about honoring our uniqueness, personality preferences, and behavior tendencies. Rather, it’s about the ability to connect and tap into our shared humanity. It’s about tuning in and finding the right frequency on the radio dial.

When we connect, we experience a sense of ‘realness’ in others. Behaviors that fuel connection allow us to witness and be witnessed by others and thereby experience authenticity.

How do we do this?

It begins by understanding our North Stars; the critical guiding values that serve as a litmus test for our decisions, actions, and behaviors.

My favorite question to ask to uncover North Stars is “Who do you want to be in the context of this situation?” This question taps into our vision of how we hope to show up, even if it requires us to show up in ways that aren’t comfortable or natural at first. From our response to this question, we can extract the guiding principle to inform our behaviors, even if it feels foreign to us. It’s not about being a chameleon and changing our stripes at every turn, but about intentionally choosing behaviors to support who we want to be.

Recently, I coached a very likable leader. In fact, his likability was his superpower. He had a knack for making people feel comfortable and at ease. His warmth and gentle spirit made him approachable and trustworthy. When he was challenged by top leadership to promote greater accountability across the organization, he paused. He didn’t want to be the heavy hand, and it felt inauthentic to code switch into the tough and demanding boss.

I asked him “who do you want to be in this situation?” He didn’t respond likable, but rather shared that he wanted to be understood, respected, caring yet demanding, strong and open. With this more nuanced vision of himself, we began exploring language he could employ in these tough conversations that would allow him to set expectations, make clean agreements, demonstrate care and dignity for others, and promote the accountability the company demanded. The process allowed him to craft authentic actions in situations where he initially felt inauthentic.

As we grow, situations challenge us to present in ways that may feel uncomfortable. By accepting this challenge, our identity expands. And in the process, we are defined less by inherent personalities and evolve into chosen characters in our life story.

And in this process, we become less defined by our inherent personality, and more by the chosen character we strive to be in our life story.

By University of Denver Center for Professional Development

In the dynamic landscape of professional development, organizations increasingly recognize the pivotal role of coaching in fostering leadership excellence and driving organizational success. Recently, the University of Denver’s Center for Professional Development (CPD) successfully concluded the first of two Coaching Skills certificate programs tailored for leaders at Fiore & Sons, Inc., a privately held heavy civil contractor in Colorado. Facilitated by Cultivage Principal, Maureen Breeze, an esteemed coach and instructor with over 25 years of expertise, the program delivered transformative insights and actionable strategies to empower participants in unlocking their full potential as leaders.

With a robust background in leadership development, coaching, and executive management across diverse industries and global contexts, Maureen Breeze brought a wealth of knowledge and practical wisdom to the program. She developed a tailored learning experience, enriching the curriculum with real-world case studies and personalized content that resonated deeply with the participants’ roles and challenges at Fiore & Sons.

One of the key highlights of the program was the customization of coaching content to address the specific needs and dynamics of Fiore & Sons. Through interactive exercises, participants were equipped with tools to enhance their coaching efficacy and drive sustainable growth within their respective roles. From exploring models for giving feedback to engaging guests from within the company for insightful discussions, the program fostered a holistic learning environment that seamlessly integrated theory with practical application.

The diverse cohort of leaders, including Site Superintendents, General Superintendents, Directors of Operations, and Project Management, attested to the program’s profound impact on their professional growth and skill development. Their glowing testimonials underscored the effectiveness of Breeze’s teaching methodology and the program’s relevance in empowering high-performing individuals to further excel in their roles.

The significance of coaching skills training for Fiore & Sons lies in its commitment to fostering a culture of continuous learning and talent development. By investing in the personal and professional growth of its employees, Fiore & Sons reinforces its dedication to nurturing future leaders and driving organizational excellence.

A recent client of mine enrolled in coaching after receiving a long sought after promotion. While elated by the new opportunity, increased pay, and powerful title, she was in serious distress. Her team was short-staffed and struggled to get the right people on board. The organization was contemplating an expansion into a new market, which she disagreed with and believed would further overwhelm her team. In addition, with her deep institutional knowledge, she had always been the ‘go to’ person at the firm, yet she could no longer balance everyone’s requests with her new responsibilities.

She was burning out and seriously considered quitting. The disruptions, both good and bad, were too much to absorb.

Are you dealing with workplace disruptions that create stress?

Perhaps you are facing new technologies, market expansion/reduction, personnel reductions, reallocated workloads, new leadership, a new “Work from Home” policy, or residual supply chain effects. The list can feel endless.

Disruptions abound and our ability to be resilient in the face of them is critical to both our well-being and organizational success. Research shows that high levels of resilience positively influence employee satisfaction and engagement. And employees managing well-being and mental health challenges are four times more likely than others to leave organizations (McKinsey State of the Organization, 2023).

As an executive coach, I am often asked how leaders can build resilience, both for themselves and their direct reports. I begin by emphasizing that not all stress is bad. When we experience eudaemonic stress – stress that arises from the pursuit of excellence & self-fulfillment through a virtue- or value-driven lifestyle – it makes us healthier, leads to peak performance, and helps us thrive. But when we experience distress in the workplace – a negative mental state that leads to severe psychological and emotional pain, anxiety, and sorrow – it can lead to burnout where we have no emotional reserves to bounce back.

So, the first step involves identifying your experiences as either healthy workplace stress or dangerous workplace distress. You can then explore healthy ways to manage stress and eliminate factors causing distress.

And once you’ve eliminated the factors contributing to distress that are within your control, consider taking the following steps to build resilience:

Manage Your Brain Power

Implement scheduling strategies to retain focus. Put discrete time on your calendar to manage emails as opposed to checking them continuously throughout the day.

Schedule time for strategic thinking and turn off notifications that pull your focus. The goal is to avoid context shifting – moving in and out of work projects – which taxes the brain and leads to cognitive overload and fatigue.

Take conscious breaks throughout your day. The brain can stay highly focused for 20 minutes, and optimal work block times are typically between 90 and 120 minutes. To take a quick brain break, walk around the office, grab a glass of water, or do standing stretches to rest and refuel.

Build Healthy Connections

Research shows that an individual’s resilience can be bolstered by investing in strong relationships and networks. A positive interaction with a friend or close colleague can help make meaning of difficult situations, provide empathetic support, and harness confidence to push through difficult periods.

Create a sense of belonging in your organization. Research indicates that when employees feel like they belong in an organization, there is a 56% increase in job performance, a 50% drop in turnover risk, and a 75% reduction in sick days. Simple steps such as encouraging intentional hellos/good-byes at the start and end of the day, recognizing birthdays and work anniversaries, implementing systems for company-wide acknowledgement of employee contributions, and formalizing mentorship relationships can significantly impact employee experience and retention.

Strive for Emotional Stability

Incorporate strategies to manage emotional triggers that exacerbate stress. Identify what typically triggers you and find a way to pause before responding. For example, take five deep breaths, momentarily walk away from a difficult situation and collect yourself, or table a response until the next day if possible. The goal is to buy time to create an intentional response rather than emotionally react to a triggering situation.

Minimize ambiguity for yourself and your team whenever possible, by clarifying expectations and setting clean agreements for work processes and deliverables. When ambiguity is unavoidable, take time to acknowledge and normalize it as part of the process.

Develop Optimism

Dr. Martin Seligman’s decades of research points to optimism as a critical contributor to resilience. He defines optimism as the belief that with effort, you can impact the outcome. Distress can result from exerting effort on issues outside of our control. However, identifying what is within your control and strategically applying effort to impact the outcome leads to feelings of efficacy and ultimately strengthens resiliency.

Identify potential solutions to problems, even if you don’t act on them. It is difficult to be resilient when we believe we are backed into a corner with no alternatives. One way to combat this is to ask yourself, “What are three things I can do now?” While the solutions you generate may not be great, they can lift you from a feeling of helplessness into a state of possibility. Research shows that having options, even if they aren’t optimal, reduces distress.

As my client worked on the steps outlined above, she realized she couldn’t ultimately decide whether the organization expanded into new markets, but she could control how she communicated her points of view on the matter in influential ways. She doubled down on her efforts to effectively onboard new team members and carefully delegated new responsibilities to her team to give them opportunities to grow while giving her more time to do strategic work. And perhaps most importantly, she scoped her time for managing emails to the first and last hours of the day and turned off all notifications so that she could manage her focus and reduce brain fatigue. While her stress load is still significant, she has moved out of distress and is growing in her new role that she worked so hard to achieve.